First, I apologize for the lack of updates but I’ve been out of town on vacation and I’m a bit more busy with work this summer, but I’m back now.

First Details on the Next Expansion Leak as Blizzard Trademarks “Cataclysm”

A few days ago Blizzard filed a trademark for “Cataclysm” on the United States Patent and Trademark Office website. Cataclysm was registered for :

• Entertainment services, namely, providing on-line computer games; providing computer games that may be accessed via a global computer network; and providing on-line information in the field of computer gaming entertainment
• Comic books, computer game strategy guides, trading cards, coloring books, adhesive stickers, rub-on transfers, notebooks, stationery-type portfolios, posters, greeting cards, calendars, instructional leaflets in the field of computer games, computer game instruction manuals, catalogs in the field of computer games, advertisement boards of paper or cardboard, photographs, art prints
• Computer game software and related instruction manuals and guides sold together as a unit; downloadable computer game software; interactive multimedia computer game program; mousepads

What this means likely is that the next WoW expansion should be announced at Blizzcon and it will probably revolve around the Maelstrom. I’d guess for a new expansion relatively early in the new year. I have to commend them for realizing that the current state of the game is lacking, which is in my opinion what’s causing the rush in instance releases and likely a rush in releasing a new expansion. I doubt 3.2 would be coming this fast if things were going great in game (look how long season 2 or 3 and the respective raids that came with them lasted in comparison to Ulduar).

This is all speculation at the moment though, more info should come at Blizzcon.

Rogue 3.2 Armor Graphics

Tier 9 Gear

Season 7 Gear

2 v 2 Change a Meaningless Reversion

After further consideration, and after hearing from many players, we are going to change how we approach the 2 vs. 2 arena bracket in Arena Season 7. We still think the 3 vs. 3 and 5 vs. 5 brackets will ultimately offer the best play experience, especially for very competitive gamers for whom game class balance issues are most noticeable. However, we recognize that many players just prefer to play in the 2 vs. 2 bracket and will miss the chance to earn the current season’s gear. Therefore, we are going to still allow the 2 vs. 2 bracket to grant access to the current season of gear with three important exceptions: the current season’s weapons will not be available for purchase, the current season’s shoulder armor will not be available for purchase, and players will not qualify for the Gladiator title/rewards unless you earn the appropriate rating in the 3 vs. 3 or 5 vs. 5 bracket. We look forward to the changes in the next major content patch and hope to have a great next Arena Season.

So basically this reversion of 2 v 2 means Blizz is aware the people like 2s, but it still won’t reward you with anything important. At least they have a focus, even if its not a favorable direction, at least its a direction. It’s cool if 3s will eventually have complete balance, but I still don’t understand this 5s talk.

Blizz Comments on Instance Cap, Fix Coming

If you’ve found it as frustrating as I have to be locked out of an instance, the good news is a solution is coming.

We are aware of the concerns regarding situations where players are unable to zone into an instance due to an instance limit being hit, which results in a message stating that additional instances cannot be launched. This limit was implemented as a short-term solution to preserve the game play for players who are already in an instance and to prevent numerous issues that can happen when too many instances are active at the same time, but we are currently working on better solutions to ensure that players can get into instances when they want to.

My thoughts on the coming Faction Change Feature

When I posted the change last week I really didn’t have a chance to talk about it. Here are some further updates from Blizz first:

Q. Will we be able to switch between the races on our own faction?
A. No. Players will only be able to switch to a race of the opposite faction.
Q. Will I be able to choose the race on the opposite faction that I want to change to?
A. Yes, but you will only be able to switch to a race that has your class type available to it. So if you play a human paladin, you’d only be able to change to a blood elf paladin.
Q. How much will it cost?
A. We do not have further information on this at this point in time.
Q. Will I be able to switch back to my original faction but a different race?
A. No. You will only be able to switch back to your originally chosen race.
Q. How will the switch between reputation, gear, mounts, etc be handled?
A. We’ll have more details for you at a later point in time, though we plan to keep these as close to a reflection of the other faction as much as possible.
Q. How often can you change your faction?
A. We do not have any information to share on this at this point in time, however we will have restrictions on the frequency by which players can change their faction.
Q. How will this affect the balance of Horde and Alliance on the realms?
A. We are taking great care in how we implement this new service in order to maintain balance between the factions on the realms but do not have any further details to share.

Alright, so we don’t know much yet but we know a few things.

First and foremost, this isn’t “omg I’m a belf I can finally get WOTF”. You won’t be able to change races within your own faction would should immediately curb a lot of people’s enthusiasm regarding this feature. This will also mean that if you’re really unhappy with your race, you’d better be unhappy enough to leave any commitments and attachments, and friends within your own faction unless they are willing to come with you. This may not sound big but people are often unwilling to pay any more than they already do for WoW.

They also immediately shut down the idea of “omg I’m a belf I can still get WOTF by switching back and forth!”, so they really are making this about a faction change and not necessarily a race change. I’m not saying that human racials aren’t comparable to UD, but a lot of people will not be willing to abandon their faction.

So we still don’t know much, but at least we know that this is a faction change more than it is a inter-faction race change for racials or looks. At least that’s what blizzard wants, but having two dominant PvP racials on separate faction will still mean that a lot of people will be faction hopping for superior racials. I won’t comment more but if anything I think this change will still serve to highlight the inadequacies of some racials and, hopefully, help to balance out horde and alliance populations.

I’d also like to congratulate Stars on what appears to be the first legit Yogg + 0 Keepers kill.They certainly seem very happy about it! (below)